Reward offered for suspected arson of parts vehicles in Valley

VALLEY, N.S. — A Valley auto recycler has lost “thousands of dollars” worth of parts after vandals set fire to at least 18 vehicles on his lot.
“Just disappointment I guess is the biggest thing,” said Robert Peterson, owner of Atlantic Auto Parts on College Road. “The fact people can do stuff like that and don’t have any regret or remorse or nothing,” he said.
A $500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible and the Colchester District RCMP has also issued a public plea in the case.
Peterson said he received a call from the RCMP about 1 a.m. on Oct. 19 that vehicles were on fire in the compound behind the auto parts office.
“When police arrived, several vehicles had already been completely destroyed by fire, suggesting they had been burning for an extended period of time before anyone noticed,” an RCMP news release said.
Peterson estimated his loss in the thousands of dollars. And because the vehicles are contained in an outdoor lot, they cannot be insured.
“You can’t insure it. It’s all right completely out of pocket,” he said. “I feel it cost me a bunch of money and I’m not really happy about it. But in the end, I feel it’s just kids. It’s not like they’re stealing parts from me, they’re just destroying them so I can’t sell them, which is what we do, is sell parts.”
One of the cars destroyed by fire was a Honda Civic that Peterson had purchased just days before and drove it onto the lot.
“It’s just trash, now. Two days it was here. I drove that car and the motor and transmission in it worked perfect but now I don’t have it to sell,” he said.
Peterson said he has been the victim of some vandalism in past years but lately it has gotten worse. Just prior to the fires, vandals broke out the windshields, door glass, rear windows, side mirrors and even taillights on numerous vehicles in the back lot.
“It’s happened before but never to this extent,” Peterson said. “Just take a look at the windshields,” he said, pointing at numerous rows of vehicles with all the glass smashed out.
“A guy called me looking for an Echo windshield, I said ‘yeah, I’ve got a bunch of Echos down there. There should be an Echo windshield.”
But when he went to look, the glass in every Toyota Echo had been smashed.
“If you call looking for a windshield for a Toyota Echo, I’ve got to say no.”
Another customer called looking for a rear hatch door for a vehicle. But when Peterson went to the lot, the glass had been broken in that too, representing a single loss of between $250 and $300.
In all, Peterson estimated the glass has been destroyed in more than 100 vehicles. 
“So, when you add it up, it adds up pretty quick… they’re stealing revenue,” he said.
“I’m really disappointed, but if they are just kids, even if they catch them, they can’t do anything to them. It’s not like you can throw them in jail. You can’t make them pay, they don’t have a job, they go to school … .”